Brisbane Bridge Closures

FordACE · 17-10-2006, 08:22 PM

Anyone got any feelings or emotions on this problem in Brisbane, or even any more info then what I know?

Justin@ · 17-10-2006, 08:27 PM

They found cracks in the bridge and it wont reopen till the repairs are done

http://au.news.yahoo.com/061017/21/10y5s.html

fiery · 17-10-2006, 08:30 PM

Well I guess we should be thankful that they found it before there was a disaster.. but I bet heaps of people don't see it that way and will ***** about it big time..

FordACE · 17-10-2006, 08:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fiery

Well I guess we should be thankful that they found it before there was a disaster.. but I bet heaps of people don't see it that way and will ***** about it big time..

I certainly agree with that. scary thought if it would have collapsed during peak hour, or any time for that matter

MO · 17-10-2006, 08:44 PM

Serves you right for living/working in the big smoke.

HOON69 · 17-10-2006, 08:44 PM

shame they didnt pick it up earlier cracks just dont appear out of nowhere
maybe more regular checks are needed

they said tolls etc on other roads will be lifted to help with traffic etc

GOLDIE · 17-10-2006, 08:51 PM

The two ramps they are talking about are desirned as single lane ramps but in peak hour traffic they are turned into 2 lane ramps because there is not enough places for the traffic to go.

I have a friend that drives buses for the council and she has seen up to six fully loaded buses stop on the one ramp that has all the major crackes.

Ian

**Captain Stubing** · 17-10-2006, 08:56 PM

It looks like the closure will last for the rest of the week. Traffic is going to be a nightmare, for anyone going north-south, or south-north.

At least it's only 120 000 cars a day to be fed into detours, I wonder if they'll change the timing of the traffic lights to compensate ???

Yaw · 17-10-2006, 08:57 PM

I am happy they have done the right thing for saftey, and hopefully they will have it done within the week that they state it will take. Brisbane traffic crumbled tonight. The bus I catch from town at 5.10 did not show up until 6.20. Luckily I have organised to work extra time so i can take 1 hour in the morning and one hour off in the arvo on friday so i can get my car serviced. The Ford dealership does not open the gates until 8.00 am and closes at 5.15. (Not very user freindly times.)

FordACE · 17-10-2006, 08:57 PM

it will be interesting to see what pans out with it. I need to head to the north side on friday afternoon, so I will have to find a new route.

csv8 · 17-10-2006, 09:15 PM

TWO inner-city freeway onramps and parts of the Riverside Expressway and North Quay have been closed until at least the end of the week after engineers discovered a new concrete crack.

The State government has warned that the closures of the Ann and Alice Street ramps and sections of the expressway will cause major traffic disruptions and has urged city employers to allow workers to stagger shifts in a bid to reduce road chaos.

Engineers are concerned that if the ramps fail they could fall onto the expressway or North Quay although Transport Minister Paul Lucas says the chance of the Ann St ramp collapsing is "extremely low".

But he said he was not taking any chances.

Mr Lucas said the Ann St onramp to the Riverside Expressway and sections of the road beneath would close "as a precautionary measure following the discovery of a hairline crack in the ramp’s decking".

He said the sections of road were being closed this afternoon following the discovery of a hairline crack of around 0.4mm and approximately 2m long in the bridge decking this morning.

Mr Lucas said Main Roads advised that the crack had appeared in the bridge overnight and Main Roads bridge specialists had advised the onramp should be closed following the discovery of the crack late this morning.

“I’d like to make it clear that this is a precautionary closure,” Mr Lucas said.

“While Main Roads has advised me that there is an extremely low chance of the Ann St onramp collapsing, I’m not willing to take any chances whatsoever,” Mr Lucas said.

“For that reason, we are closing the Ann St onramp and the sections of Expressway beneath it. It will also affect the section of North Quay beneath the Alice St onramp, and the pedestrian/bikeway which would also be closed.

“At this stage the Main Roads bridge specialists are working to identify what may have caused the crack,” Mr Lucas said.

He said that in a bid to reduce traffic congestion there would be no peak hour tolls on the Gateway Bridge while the CBD traffic diversions were in place.

The bridge would be toll-free between 6am and 10am and 4pm to 7pm.

Bus lanes and T3 lanes would also be opened to general traffic, although those concessions would not apply to the dedicated South East and Inner Northern busways.”

Mr Lucas said that at this stage the closure would be in place until the end of the week.

He said specialist electronic monitoring equipment would be installed.

Mr Lucas said Main Roads has already discussed traffic management with the Brisbane City Council and police but warned the closures would cause "major traffic disruption to the central business district".

He said while he apologised for the disruption, he would rather have the inconvenience of that than the alternative.

He said the Ann Street ramp was built over sections of North Quay and the bikeway and sections of both would need to close.

"I would ask employers and employees to consider staggered start times", Mr Lucas said.

He also urged people to consider using public transport.

kcbworth · 18-10-2006, 02:01 AM

Courier Mail site has some good info today:

- http://www.news.com.au/couriermail
- Closures: http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/s...27-952,00.html
- Evidence that it was found on Monday: http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/s...11-952,00.html

Tell ya what, it was exciting times going home this evening. Made our little town feel like an exciting place to be. Noone really knew what was going on at first (just no buses rocking up at all) but rumours spread through the crowds really quickly. At one point everyone thought that the city was locked down.

I ended up jumping on the first bus that came by (goes within 15 mins walk of my house) and the busway and freeway were mayhem. I saw about 200 buses in a line down the busway, waiting to get into the city. Most of them over an hour late! SE Freeway was backed up past Marshall road... glad i wasn't going that way.

Its gonna be **** for the next few days, but I think its worth it. Riverside expressway is a nice piece of road, but it needs some upgrades badly (widening would be nice), and maybe this will kickstart some of these.

Stumbled across these crazy forums tonight as well... might interest some of you. Got some pics of some of the current road/tunnel construction in bris:

- http://busaustralia.com/forum/viewfo...ccc6f5f45f7c7b

Scareybear · 18-10-2006, 07:49 AM

I only saw a small bit of congestion this morning, I don't have a problem with the govt maintaining roads etc, what REALLY ****ES ME OFF are the idiots who feel they have the right to dawdle on through orange lights, stopping in the middle of intersections, therefore blocking everyone else, its just stupid.

robjh80 · 18-10-2006, 01:30 PM

What a mess....got caught up in it all last night trying to get home, wasn't going to do it all again this morning, I usually leave home at around 8.00am in the morning and get to work around 9.00am, saw all the chaos on the TV this morning from the chopper traffic reports, "thought stuff that for a joke" so I left home at 9.30am and got into work at 10.15am, 45 minutes, less travel time than usual, dream drive in, missed all the chaos.......only fortunate that I have a job that enables me to have flexible start and finish times etc, I also wont be leaving work until later on tonight so I miss it all again.